all night long
by thefrostedrose
Summary: Right from the get-go, Catherine Goode knew that a road trip with her five best friends would be an absolute disaster/ T for swearing and sexual content/For Jade :: Matt/Rachel, Abby/Townsend, Catherine/Joe


_So this is for Jade (collectcall)_

* * *

**Washington D.C.**

"No."

"Catherine, you don't even know what I'm going to say."

"Yes, I do! And I refuse."

"It'll be fun."

"No, Joe. It won't. It'll be hell."

"No, it won't. It'll just be you, me, Rachel, Matt,"

"I sense an 'and' I'm not going to like, Joe."

"…and Abby and Townsend-"

"Do you really expect me to spend two weeks locked in a car with Abby and Edward? Especially after Buenos Aires? And with the two lovebirds?"

"Come on, you're from out west."

"Seattle, Joe, not the middle of nowhere New Mexico!"

"Please, Catherine. Do it for me. We all rarely see each other as it is."

Catherine Goode looks up at Joe Solomon from her small, cramped, and thoroughly unglamorous CIA cubicle, and sighs. "Fine. You're lucky I like you, Solomon."

"Thanks, sweetheart." He winks.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"Oh, never."

**Chicago, Illinois**

"Joe, what the hell is that?" Catherine shoves her aviators up her head to wrinkle her nose disdainfully at the automobile in front of her.

"It's a Plymouth Voyager."

"A minivan."

"Yes."

"It's…_mustard._"

"I know, I know."

"So we're going to spend two weeks in a mustard color minivan with Abby, Edward, Rachel, and Matt?"

"Did someone say my name?" Abigail Cameron appears from the other side of the car, a massive grin plastered on her face. She raises her arms to wave, but they are filled with massive suitcases.

"You do know we're going to be away for only two weeks, right?" Joe grins.

"Well, who knows when the next time I'll get to wash my clothes? And besides, I like options." Abby huffs, throwing her bags into the trunk of the van uncouthly.

"We are traveling Route 66, not traversing the Sahara." A distinctive British accent interrupts him.

"NO ONE TOLD ME HE WAS GOING TO BE HERE!" Abby screeches.

"Thank you for considering my eardrums, Abigail." Edward Townsend drawls, smirking.

"Abby, who else were we going to invite?" Rachel Cameron walks towards them, out of the car dealership, Matthew Morgan trailing behind with both her and his bags. "It's a pleasure to see you, Edward."

Abby crosses her arms in a huff, mumbling 'Buenos Aires' and 'Townsend' under her breath.

"So, who's going to drive?" Matt grins.

"Me." Joe and Catherine chorus at the same time.

"Oh, you didn't even want to come! Now you want to drive?" Joe scoffs.

"I don't trust any of you." Catherine scowls.

"I drive. You'll be fine." Joe assures her, hopping into the driver's seat. "Everyone in."

Catherine climbs in the passenger's seat before anyone has a chance to move. Rachel and Matt quickly claim the middle row, leaving Abby and Townsend for the back.

"I have to sit in the back? With Townsend?" Abby grumbles.

"Too late to change seats." Rachel sing-songs as they pull out of the dealership.

Joe turns on the radio.

"It's stuck."

"Thank you for that stimulating observation, Abigail."

"Why did you put me in the back with him!?"

"That's funny. It is." Joe hits it, but it just keeps going.

"And of course it gets stuck on the most annoying Olivia Newton John song of all time." Catherine sighs, putting her sunglasses back down over her eyes. "When's this from, 1981?"

"_Let's get physical, physical._" Rachel sings along happily, and the whole car groans.

"Guys, just think; in two weeks we'll be in Santa Monica." Joe assures them.

"It's going to be a long two weeks." Edward murmurs.

* * *

"So we've booked two rooms. One for guys, one for girls." Joe announces as they pull up to their first motel.

"Ew, Joe, it looks nasty." Abby whines.

"It's just a little…homey, Abby." Rachel assures her younger sister.

"If you say so. Now, Townsend, help me with my bags."

"You expect me to help you with your bags after you complained about sitting next to me the whole ride?"

"God, Townsend, just be a gentlemen."

"You're lucky I am, Abigail."

* * *

"There's only one bed." Catherine observes as the girls step into their bedroom. "And it's…dull."

"Yay, sharesies!" Abby squeals, throwing herself on the bed, which makes a sickening crack.

"Oh, lord." Rachel presses a hand to her face. "I can't sleep next to Abby. She…kicks."

"Looks like Catherine gets to be in the middle."

* * *

"Truth or Dare?"

"Abby, this isn't the time to play truth or dare." Rachel reminds her as they all gaze up at the dark ceiling.

"Do you like Joe, Catherine? Like, _like_ like?"

"No." She sighs, trying to get comfortable between the two sisters. "He's my friend. I do not _like_ like him."

"Yeah, right." Abby scoffs.

"Do you like Townsend?"

"EW NO NEVER!"

"Then shut up."

**En route to Oklahoma**

"What's that noise?" Rachel leans forward.

"What noise?" Matt knits his eyebrows in confusion.

"That stuttering!"

"…I think the air conditioning just died." Joe says slowly.

"And now we have to drive cross country. In the summer. Without air conditioning." Catherine complains, kicking her wedge clad feet up onto the dashboard. "Seriously, Joe, how much did you pay for this piece of crap?"

"It has personality, okay?" Joe defends himself.

"I think we should name it!" Abby suggests.

"You seriously want to name a car?"

"STOP BEING A KILLJOY, TOWNSEND!"

"How about Sally?"

"Amelia?"

"Rebecca?"

"Hunk of shit?"

"_Catherine_-"

"How about Suzie?" Rachel suggests. "Suzie the car?"

"I suppose." Catherine shrugs. "But I liked my suggestion better."

"_Catherine_."

* * *

"OUCH WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Rachel yelps, holding the back of her head as she furiously turns to face her sister.

"I don't want to watch you and Matt suck face the whole trip!"

"Well, I don't want to have to deal with you and Townsend act like you're not sleeping together!"

"YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"We all know it's true, Abigail." Rachel snaps. "We all know what happened in Buenos Aires!"

"What-but-excuse me-!"

"How?" Townsend doesn't bother denying Rachel's comments.

"Everyone knows! It's so obvious. You two always argue, but we all know you want to rip each other's clothes off." Abby turns an unflattering shade of red in the back seat.

"There's no point in trying to deny your attraction for me any longer, Abigail." Edward smirks.

"Therefore," Rachel continues before Abby can yell even more. "I think that we should get three separate rooms when we stop in Springfield."

"Joe and Catherine wouldn't mind sharing, would you?" Matt laughs.

"After all, you're just friends." Rachel points out innocently, and Catherine and Joe glare at each other from the front row.

"Does this mean I have to share with Townsend?" Abby wonders.

"Yes." Rachel sighs.

"_Motherf-_

"ABIGAIL!"

"Sorry, Rach."

* * *

"This is not happening, I hope you know that." Abby says, slamming her suitcase at the end on the couch in the bedroom that she is unfortunately sharing with Edward Townsend.

"Why won't you just admit that you like me?" Townsend shakes his head, laughing.

"Because you're a jackass! And you're rude, and stubborn, and how did everyone find out anyway? And-"

"Abigail?"

"What?" She snaps.

"Just kiss me already."

"What an asshole you are, you assuming douchebag-" She slams him up against the wall and kisses him anyway.

* * *

"Do you hear that?" Rachel says while she brushes her teeth, getting ready for bed.

"The slams and groans from Abby and Townsend's room?" Matt laughs, brushing his teeth, too. "Yes, I do."

"I don't know whether to be worried or scarred."

"Both, probably."

"The thought of my baby sister banging anyone makes me blush." She giggles, and moves into the bedroom.

"And what about thoughts of you, as you call it, 'banging' anyone?" Matt smiles, and moves closer to her. She links her arms around her neck.

"That," She whispers. "I am not so opposed to."

* * *

Catherine Goode would have never thought that she would end up in a bed with Joe Solomon, an eternal frenemy. In the middle of Oklahoma. Wearing nothing but her bra and panties. True, she is always up to 'new life experiences', but this is taking it a bit too far. But then again, it isn't her fault it is the middle of the Oklahoma summer. And the AC is broken. And the windows can't open because they don't have screens and something about malaria-, along with the fact that the fan is stuck on the lowest setting.

"Well, this is awkward." Joe announces first, and she tears her eyes away from the dark ceiling to look at him. They were forced to strip down, because it was just too damn hot, and her eyes wander over his toned chest and abs. "You look good in light blue."

She looks down at her bra and panties, and blushes. Is he really checking her out, too?

"Um, thanks. I like your plaid boxers…" She can hear bangs and…rather lewd noises coming from the rooms on either side of them, and she inches even farther away from Joe."I love how thin these walls are."

Joe nods, suppressing a grin. "Goodnight, Catherine."

"Goodnight, Solomon." She responds softly, and not nearly as unaffected as she wishes it was.

**En route to Texas**

"Get your hands off of me." Abby shrugs away from the Edward's hand on her thigh in the car the next day.

"You certainly weren't saying that last night." He chuckles darkly, his lips brushing against her ear, and she flames red.

"And you think you've been doing a good job of trying to keep that secret, Abby." Rachel grins, squeezing Matt's hand. Abby leans forward to yell at her sister, but Edward's hands are on her waist, pulling her back and against him.

"How was your night, Joe? Catherine?" Matt changes the subject. "Have fun?"

"We had to sleep in our underwear." Joe drawls, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Sounds kinky." Rachel singsongs, poking Catherine in the back.

"Oh, please. We just slept together." Catherine says, as if it's obvious. The whole car breaks into big smiles, glancing at each other. "Not _slept_ slept together! Like, in the same bed."

Unwillingly, she turns red. She decides to leave out the part about when she woke up, her face nuzzled into his soft, warm chest, his arms around her, face buried in her hair, and her legs tangled in his. She didn't mean for her to cuddle him in her sleep, it just sort of happened. The subject drops, and she turns her attention to the vast emptiness whooshing by outside.

"I'm going to throw up in my mouth." Catherine groans as she watches Rachel and Matt start to snuggle and sneak kisses in the seat behind them.

"You're just jealous, Catherine." Rachel says matter of factly.

"Yeah, I just love being susceptible to a whole host of STDs."

"And you aren't already?" Matt grins.

"How about we play a game?" Joe expertly changes the subject as Catherine turns to yell at Matt.

"Okay - what's your least favorite kind of music?" Abby asks.

"Olivia Newton John." Everyone choruses, and glances at the radio.

"_Let your body talk_," Olivia Newton John drones on, and Joe glances briefly at Catherine, who can't even look at him. Whenever she does her mind fills with the scent of his skin - musky, and rich, like new leather and pine woods - and she urges herself to think of something else.

"At least we're almost in New Mexico." Rachel shrugs. "We'll be driving through Albuquerque tomorrow."

"Do I have to share a room with Townsend again?"

"Yes, Abby."

"Shit."

"You didn't mind last night, Abby." Matt counters, and laughs when she turns an unflattering shade of red.

"He's right, Abigail." Edward replies, his fingers absent-mindedly twirling locks of her hair in his fingers.

"Well, you and Matt I know weren't complaining either." Abby grumbles, crossing her arms.

"Joe and I did complain, actually." Catherine reminds them, and the whole car gets quiet as the four in the back seat look at each other making suggestive faces.

"I don't think you were." Matt smirks.

"Guys, we're just friends." Joe insists, looking at them

"Mmmhmm. Right." Rachel laughs.

"As if I could ever like Joe," Catherine snaps a little too quickly. "We hate each other, and he's selfish and arrogant and conceited." There's a long silence, and she feels sick to her stomach the moment it leaves her mouth. The car ride is silent, and she can see Joe tensed in the corner of her eye. She can feel Matt, Rachel, Edward, and Abby's eyes boring into the back of her head.

"_Catherine_-"

It's Rachel who speaks first.

"It's fine, Rachel." Joe cuts her off tersely.

"But-"

"I said, it's fine. Just leave it alone."

* * *

"What did you think about Catherine and Joe today?" Rachel asks Matt as they lie in their bedroom in a hotel room on the border between Texas and New Mexico. "I don't know what's happening with them."

"You know things have always been…rough between them." Matt replies tiredly, running his fingers down her bare shoulder.

"I know, but-"

"Just let them figure it out for themselves, honey." He kisses her on the cheek, and she sighs.

"We're okay, too, aren't we, Matt?" The words hang in the air, heavy, because they both know that what they have is quite serious but the thought always goes unspoken.

"We're okay, Rachel. We'll always be okay."

* * *

"You just can't stay away from me, can you, Abigail?" Townsend smirks, his words floating up to the ceiling. Abby closes her eyes, trying to tune out the man next to her. She can't believe she gave into him again. "What? No words, Abigail?"

"Shut up, Townsend." She breathes out, turning over and away from him; away from his electric blue eyes, smirk, wavy black hair, and toned arms. He doesn't respond with a witty reply, just presses a kiss into her dark hair. She grins softly, but doesn't dare let them see.

* * *

"Catherine?"

"Yeah?"

"Those things, you said about me…"

"Aren't true, and…I'm sorry."

"So you don't really hate me?"

"I could never hate you, Joe."

**En route to Arizona**

The mood in the van the next morning is heavy, and suffocating. Figuratively, and literally: it's sweltering outside, the sun beating down on the empty asphalt and the vast emptiness of the golden desert surrounding them. They haven't seen another car in ages and they all can feel the tension about to explode.

"This fucking air conditioning." Abby mumbles, leaning forward and slamming the broken AC harshly.

"Abby, do you have to be so loud?" Rachel snaps.

"Well, I'm sorry Rachel. I'm sorry that I'm loud. I'm sorry that I'm careless. I'm sorry that I'm reckless. Is that what you want me to say?"

"Abby, you're overreacting!"

"You think you're so perfect, Rachel, like you can do no wrong. So fucking pious and innocent and all 'mightier than thou'."

"Abby, stop it!" Edward urges her.

"You know what?" Abby explodes. "I'm done! Joe, stop the car!"

"What?"

"STOP THE CAR." Joe, absolutely terrified and in shock, pulls over on the side of the empty highway. Abby immediately hops out of the minivan, and the loud slam of the door is enough for the whole car to shake.

"Where's she going?" Joe wonders as they watch Abby walk down the middle of the highway away from them into the distance.

"I'll go after her." Edward grumbles, departing after her.

"I have to get out of this crazy car." Catherine mumbles, abruptly leaving, and instead of heading down the road, walks into the expansive desert to the right of the car. Joe sighs, and turns to face Rachel and Matt.

"Wait here." He tells them as he opens the door and heads after her.

* * *

"ABIGAIL!" Edward calls after Abby, jogging down the scorching, empty New Mexican highway. "ABBY!" She turns around quickly, almost too quickly, and they're so far down the desolate road that she can barely make out the car. "What is your problem?" He seethes, a hand wrapping around her wrist.

"You!" She cries, tears leaking out of her eyes. He lets out a breath slowly.

"Me? No, it's you! You've been avoiding me, and you want to deny our relationship, if you can call it that, and it's like I don't matter." He snaps.

"No, it's you!" Her voice softens, and she looks around, as if looking for someone to turn to, but she can't. "Don't you know how you make me feel? Don't you know how my heart skips a beat every time you look at me? Don't you know how every time you touch me, you set my soul on fire? Don't you know how I get drunk on your kisses, and how I crave them all the time? Don't you know I haven't felt this way about anyone in my entire wife, and it's terrifying, and I'm so scared because," Her voice catches, and the tears on her face glisten in the hot sun. "I love you."

The silence is hot like the blistering sun, and she's breathing heavy, wishing he would just say something. Instead, he pulls her closer.

"I'm scared too." He whispers, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm scared, too, but at least I know that we'll be scared together."

His lips meet hers and she tastes like tears and peppermint and everything is finally right and perfect for just once in their short lives.

"Edward?" She murmurs when he pulls away.

"Hmm?"

"Kiss me again."

* * *

"It seems we're the only sane ones." Matt comments as he and Rachel watch the other four storm off into the desert. She nods, and leans against his shoulder, letting out a sigh of contentment.

"They're always falling apart and we're still standing." Rachel says, looping her hand into his. There's an easy silence.

"Rachel?

"Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Are you seriously proposing to me in a crappy mustard colored minivan named Suzie, in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico?"

"I was going to when we reached Santa Monica, but with how crazy this trip as actually been…it seemed like the right time."

"Okay."

"Okay as in…?"

"Yes. Okay as in yes."

"Yes?"

"You needn't sound so shocked."

"Well that's good. That's wonderful, actually."

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" He does, clumsily and sweetly, but it's absolutely perfect.

* * *

"I've hated the desert ever since Casablanca." Catherine drawls and kicks a rock as Joe moves to stand next to her, overlooking the cacti, the hardened earth, and the harshness of the desert.

"Well, that camel was testy to begin with." He shrugs, and a smirk forms on her lips. She turns briefly to glance at the van, tiny in the distance.

"How much do you want to bet that Matt and Rach are getting it on while we're gone?" He laughs. "I seriously can't understand why they all think we're a thing, We're just friends, my god."

He looks at her out of the corner of his eye; at the tan wedges, the short white shirt-dress, the sepia aviators and pale skin and the wavy dark red hair that flies around her face in the wind and he doesn't think he's ever met anyone more perfect. He pulls her into a hug.

"It's fine, Catherine. Everything's fine." The way he says her name unwillingly makes her stomach flip, and she lets out a sigh into his shoulder. That damn scent of his (smoky and musky and delicious) fills her nose, and he's warm and comfortable and she pushes him away when the overwhelming urge to kiss him fills her mind.

The only thought she has when she walks back to the van is why. Why why why why why. Why does she feel this way about Joe Solomon, someone she adores and hates at the same time.

He watches her walk away, and he can't help thinking that the times she has are countless.

**Flagstaff, Arizona**

"We have some news." Matt says as the gang sits around a table in a diner with a lovely view of the Rockies in the distance.

"We're getting married!" Rachel announces. "Matt proposed yesterday."

Abby screams, Joe and Edward both grin and offer congratulations, but Catherine just says, "You proposed to her in that shitty minivan? And she accepted?"

"Catherine, do you really have to be such a killjoy?" Edward laughs in exasperation.

Catherine takes a sip of her coffee with a shrug. "I'm happy, of course. Congratulations. But still…in the minivan? Really?"

"How about you guys?" Rachel looks at Abby and Edward, who are sitting so close they are almost on top of each other, arms locked. "Have you worked out…whatever?"

"Yes, we have." Abby smiles softly, her hand drifting up and down Edward's arm affectionately.

"God, what a gag fest."

"Well how are you and Joe, Catherine?" Matt asks loudly.

"Not sticking our tongues down each other's throats, thanks for asking."

"It's only a matter of time." Rachel muses.

"I don't think so." Catherine responds a little too quickly.

"We'll see."

**En route to California**

"Just leave them be." Joe grins when Catherine turns to yell at her companions. Matt and Rachel are busy whispering sweet nothings to each other, cuddling and sneaking kisses, and Abby and Edward are involved in a full-blown make out session in the back seat. "They're just having a little fun."

"They're disgusting." She wrinkles her nose as Abby's hands move under Edward's shirt. "HEY! NO SEX IN THE MINIVAN!"

"God, Catherine. You're such a prude." Abby mumbles, climbing off of Townsend's lap.

"I'm sorry I don't hear to watch you and Townsend making the noises of animals in heat while I'm trying to sleep!"

"Please, we're only a few hours away." Joe sighs. "Don't ruin it."

**Santa Monica, California**

"Look how beautiful!" Abby bolts onto the sand, jumping around in the freezing Pacific.

"Gorgeous." Rachel acknowledges the stunning sunset that paints the sky in reds and oranges and purples. The six sink down onto the sand as the sun slips lower and lower towards the shining Pacific. The beach is fairly deserted, and it's has the perfect amount of sea breeze.

"I honestly didn't think we were going to make it." Joe laughs, then glances at the minivan behind them. "Especially in that horrendous van."

"Her name is Suzie!" Rachel says. "And she is lovely."

Even then they can hear the lovely sound of Olivia Newton John crooning from the car.

"She did have character." Catherine admits. "With her broken air conditioning and nauseating color and awful radio."

There's a long silence, and the other four abandon them. "Why do they always leave us alone?" Joe says, moving closer to her as they watch Abby and Townsend splash each other in the water, and Rachel and Matt walk hand in hand down the beach.

"I don't know why they think we could ever be a thing." She huffs. "I mean, you're my best friend - the best friend I've ever had. You know everything about me, and sometimes I've thought that I hated you but I didn't and you are always right, about everything and you always listen to me and I can't imagine being without you and -"

She's interrupted by his lips crushed against his. The kiss isn't like Rachel and Matt's (soft and chaste and sweet) or Abby and Edward's (rough and hot and passionate) but somewhere in between. It's filled with built up longing and it makes her feel all warm and comfortable. He tastes like the way he smells, and maybe (though she hates to admit it), that those other four were right, and she has waited far too long to do this.

"You're cute when you babble." He murmurs against her lips, one hand winding into her fiery red hair and the other resting on the small of her back, pushing her hips into his.

"So what now?" She says in between kisses.

"Well," He smirks. "We leave for DC tomorrow, but there's always tonight…"

"You do look good in boxers." She jokes, hands running over his chest.

"And I must admit that my thoughts while seeing you in lingerie were less than virtuous." He kisses her again. "I love you, you know that?"

"I love you, too." She sighs. "I fell in love with my best friend - how cliche."

"FINALLY!" Abby cries as she and Edward run up to them. Catherine laughs as they sink down next to them, Rachel and Matt bringing up the rear.

"Look, it's about to set." Rachel points out. Matt's hand links with hers, and she grasps Abby's. Abby's already caressing Edward's, who holds onto Catherine's in turn. And somewhere, in the sand, her hand fits perfectly in Joe's.

"We're always going to be friends, aren't we?" Abby whispers, watching the sun sink below the ocean. Catherine shakes her head, as if it's a silly question.

"Of course; why wouldn't we be?"


End file.
